NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: Chase Hopes and Nopes at Daytona

 

Ryan Blaney's win at New Hampshire last weekend made it clear that Team Penske is ready to contend when it comes to Chase racing, and it's not just Joey Logano that the field should be concerned about. The win was Blaney's second consecutive win at New Hampshire and his third checkered flag this season.

It's hard to believe, but tomorrow's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona is the regular season finale. The race will debut NASCAR's new superspeedway rules package, which features reduced drag plus a reduction in horsepower from 510 to 465 to adjust for the reduced downforce. 

The intention is to increase passing opportunities. Since we won't have practice, the drivers, teams, crew chiefs, and fans will get to see how that all works out when the green flag waves at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday night. Hmm, this could get more interesting than usual.

This Week's Pick Strategy: Reliable superspeedway drivers are your best bet this week. Think drivers who are adept at how to push or be pushed. I plan to round out my roster with drivers who have the potential to earn me qualifying bonus points and cautious drivers who are less likely to make risky moves. And then, I'll just pray for the best!  

Active Cup Series Drivers with Most Top 10s Since 2022:
By Race 
Chris Buescher - 3

All with 2 - Cody Ware, Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs and Chase Elliott

By Track 
Chris Buescher - 5
Both with 4 - Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman

All with 3 - Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, William Byron and Chase Briscoe

 

Active Cup Series Drivers with Most Top 5s Since 2022:  
By Race
All with 1 - Chris Buescher, Joey Logano, Cole Custer, Cody Ware, Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric and Noah Gragson

By Track
Christopher Bell - 3
All with 2- Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick

Active Cup Series Drivers with No DNFs at Daytona Since 2023:
Chris Buescher, Cole Custer and Connor Zilisch

 

Recent Pole Winners:
2025 Pole Winner: Qualifying cancelled due to weather

2024 Pole Winner: Michael McDowell

 

Last Year's Race Winner: Ryan Blaney

The Likely Suspects: These drivers are my Daytona go-tos: Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Cody Ware, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Cole Custer and Tyler Reddick.

My 2 Cents: This week's no-brainer pick is Chris Buescher. My next picks are Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace and Ty Gibbs. I will round out my team with Cody Ware and John Hunter Nemechek.

 

My Final Four: Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Alex Bowman and John Hunter Nemechek.

Second-Look Driver: This week's second-look driver is Cody Ware. While Ware will not be among the 16 drivers in the Chase, Daytona International Speedway is a great track for him, especially under the lights. In the five races he's run at Daytona since 2023, he earned one Top 5 and one Top 10 for a 16.0 average finish, making him the sixth-best finisher among active Cup Series drivers. In last year's race, Ware finished 20th after starting 35th on the grid. In 2024, he finished fourth after starting 33rd.

Points to Ponder:

• Chase Elliott (Feb. 2016, Feb. 2017, and July 2018) and Alex Bowman (Feb. 2018, Feb. 2021 and Feb. 2023) lead all active series drivers in poles at Daytona with three each.
• Hendrick Motorsports leads all organizations in poles at Daytona in the NASCAR Cup Series with 23 poles – 16 DAYTONA 500 poles and seven summer race poles.
• Denny Hamlin (Feb. 2016, Feb. 2019, Feb. 2020) and William Byron (Feb. 2025, Feb. 2024, Aug. 2020) lead all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in Daytona wins with three each. 
• Five of the last eight NASCAR Cup Series Daytona summer races were won by drivers getting their first win of the season.
• A total of 27 of the 158 NASCAR Cup Series races at Daytona International Speedway have been won from the pole or first starting position (17%) – the most proficient starting position in the field. 
• Hendrick Motorsports has the most wins at Daytona in the NASCAR Cup Series with 17. Wood Brothers Racing has the second most wins with 15.
• Bubba Wallace leads all active drivers in runner-up finishes at Daytona with three. 
• Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano lead all active Cup Series drivers in Top-10 finishes at Daytona with 12 each. Hamlin also leads active Cup Series drivers in Top 5s with 11, followed by Joey Logano with nine. 
• John Hunter Nemechek leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in average finishing position at Daytona with a 9.800 in five starts.
• Denny Hamlin leads all active Cup series drivers in laps led at Daytona with 685 laps led out of 6,902 laps completed (10.8%) in 41 starts. He is ranked eighth on the all-time Daytona laps leaders list.

Remember, if you're playing Driver Group Game, make your initial picks by 5 p.m. ET on Friday, August 28th, and your final picks by 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 29th. 

 

Enjoy the race!

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Carol D'Agostino has been playing Fantasy NASCAR for 19 years. She launched NASCAR Fantasy Fusion for Skirts & Scuffs in October 2011. Each week, Carol pores through statistics and combs through her personal notebooks to arm fans with analysis and picking strategies that will leave their friends wondering how they got so smart. Carol also does race coverage for Skirts & Scuffs at Richmond Raceway and occasionally at her home track, Dover International Speedway. She is also part of the distinguished NASCAR Expert Picks panel at frcs.pro. formerly called Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. When she isn’t wielding her fantasy-racing superpowers, you’ll find Carol hammering out a news release or creating a marketing strategy at a small niche public relations firm she founded called Purple Cat or volunteering in or around Queen Anne's County, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.